Anneliese Dodds resigns due to Keir Stmerer’s decision to cut the help budget

Minister of International Development warns that it will be “impossible” to maintain funding in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine

Anneliese Dodds, Minister of International Development, left his position due to Keir Stmerer’s decision to cut the international aid budget by almost half to pay a generational increase in defense spending.

The Senior Labor Parliamentarian, who participated in the Cabinet, predicted that the UK retreat in development would strengthen Russia, which has been aggressively increasing its presence worldwide, as well as encouraging China’s attempts to rewrite global rules.

She said the prime minister would find it “impossible” to honor her commitment to keep spending on development in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine with the reduced budget, which will fall about £ 6 billion by 2027.

Dodds said he firmly believed that the prime minister was right to increase defense spending, as postwar consensus had “collapsed” after the Ukraine invasion of Russia.

She acknowledged that there were no “easy ways” for this and was prepared for some cuts in the help budget to help pay the plan to increase military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – and an ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament.

But the former chancellor said he believed that the 3% stmerus ambition “could only be the beginning,” given the tumultuous global scenario, and asked the government to look for other ways to cut departmental budgets, including reviewing loan rules and taxes.

Cabinet ministers are among those who expressed concern about the plans to cut spending with help at 46%, from 0.56% of gross national income [RNB] to 0.3%, after Donald Trump’s own drastic cuts in the US help budget. At a meeting of the cabinet, several talked about the risk of unintentional consequences.

David Lammy, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, said earlier this month that the US plan to cut help financing could be a “great strategic error” that would allow China to fill the gap and extend its global influence. Stmerer was accused of flattering the US president.

Dodds, deputy by Oxford East, said he was informed about Starmer’s decision only on Monday, but postponed the resignation not to overshadow the Prime Minister’s trip to Washington to defend with Trump safety guarantees to Ukraine.

Stmerer made his announcement surprised in the House of Commons, telling parliamentarians that Britain “would fight for peace in Europe” with a generational increase in defense spending.

At a news conference in Downing Street, he told reporters: “I made a difficult decision today because I believe in international development and I know the impact of the decision I had to make today, not leading it lightly.

“It’s not a decision that I, as a British labor prime minister, would like to make, but a decision I must make to ensure the safety and defense of our country.”

The announcement, made just two days before the Prime Minister met Trump, raised immediate concerns that he would be following the US example and caused the fury of humanitarian aid groups, who said it could cost lives in countries that depended on the support of the United Kingdom.

Richard Dannatt, a former British army chief, told Guardian that the decision to cut out foreign aid was a “strategic error” that would eventually increase the British armed forces’ burden and risk making the UK “weaker, no longer.”

Dodds, in his letter to the prime minister, wrote: “Undoubtedly, the global order of the postwar period collapsed. I believe we should increase defense spending as a result; And I know there are no easy paths for that.

“I was ready to work with you to deliver this increase in spending, knowing that some could well have come from assistance to development abroad [ODA]. I also hoped that we would collectively discuss our tax rules and tax approach, as other nations they are doing.

“Even 3% can only be the beginning, and it will be impossible to raise the substantial resources needed only through tactical cuts in public spending. These are unprecedented times when strategic decisions for the security of our country cannot be avoided. ”

Dodds, who was also a minister of women, was skeptical about Starmer’s promise to maintain help financing for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, as well as for vaccination, climate and rules -based systems.

Authorities said the portion of the development budget for the accommodation of asylum applicants – which reaches almost one third – would eventually be released for help.

Dodds wrote: “It will be impossible to keep these priorities given the depth of the cut; The effect will be much greater than the one presented, even if the assumptions made about reducing asylum costs are true. ”

And she warned of the effect on British national security and global influence as hostile nations approached.

“The cut will probably also lead to a United Kingdom withdrawal from several African, Caribbean and Western Balkans at a time when Russia has been aggressively increasing its global presence,” she said. “All this while China seeks to rewrite global rules, and when the climate crisis is the biggest threat to all of all.”

Explaining why she had postponed her resignation while Strmer was in Washington, she said: “It was imperative that you had a united office behind you when you left for Washington. His determination to seek peace through strength to Ukraine is one that I share.

“That’s why I’m just writing to you now that your meeting with President Trump is over, and four days after you inform me about your decision to cut out developmental assistance to 0.3% of the RNB.”

She concluded: “In the end, these cuts will remove food and medical assistance from desperate people – deeply impairing the reputation of the UK. I know you made it clear that it is not ideologically opposite to international development. But the reality is that this decision is already being portrayed as following President Trump’s cut of cuts at USAID. ”

Sarah Champion, Labor President of the Committee of the Common House of Committee, tweeted: “What else could she do? She knows that these cuts are impracticable. Honorable as usual, she did the right for her department and the PM not to resign before the visit to DC. A deep shame for the development where it was respected. ”

Former conservative help secretary Andrew Mitchell said Dodds had “done the right thing” as he resigned, adding: “The shameful and cynical actions of the labor party degrade the reputation of the labor party, as they balance the backs of the world’s poorest people. What a shame for them and congratulations to a politician of decency and principles. ”

Romilly Greenhill, Bond’s executive president, the umbrella organization for help charity, said: “This will be a huge loss. It is clear from the devastating cuts of help from the UK announced this week, which should be reversed, that the government is trying to retreat from its development ambitions. ”

Originally published by The Guardian on 28/02/2025

By Pippa Crerar – Political Publisher